Post by briano on Jul 2, 2022 16:50:14 GMT 12
Might be of interest....
For checking resistor values on my grandmother's radio, circa 1939, I thought I would pull out my old analogue multimeter - the very first multimeter I bought, in 1967. As per the first photo, it was bought from Electrical Services in Farish Street in Wellington, one of my favourite shops. (Other favourites were the magazine shop next door for Electronics Australia and Practical Wireless, Lamphouse on Manners Street where I bought various components and a Fountain Electronic Kit, Wisemans, and Philips for OC71 transistors, ha ha).
However, to read the high resistor values I needed to use the highest resistance range. I discovered I must of removed the original BLR154 Alkaline 15v battery, at some time in the past, and I could not use that high range. (Second photo). Thinking I could just walk into a shop and buy a new one, oops, not so easy. The only one I could source in New Zealand was from Mr Positive NZ at $35.00 including shipping. And, from research online, appearing to be an obsolete type, I wondered how 'fresh' that battery might be?
Meanwhile, I resorted to my more modern digital meter which did the trick.
However, not to give up on the analogue meter for sentimental reasons, I thought about this. I wondered if I could make up my own using button cells. I discovered that if I used x10 1.5V LR54 (AG10, LR1130/1) cells, fitted into heatshrink, the physical dimensions would work out pretty close.
So, off to the local Mitre-10, ten button batteries and $19.95 later, I fitted them into 16mm heat-shrink I had on hand. Expiry date on these button cells were "08-2027", so I should get hopefully at least five years of life. I added a nut on the positive end to make up the length, and, evenly heating the tubing, it make a good fit around the batteries. (Third photo). Because I had plenty of spring tension in the 15v holder inside the multimeter, the individual cells pressed together nicely to make good electrical connection.
I can now use that high resistance range again! The old analogue multimeter lives on!
For checking resistor values on my grandmother's radio, circa 1939, I thought I would pull out my old analogue multimeter - the very first multimeter I bought, in 1967. As per the first photo, it was bought from Electrical Services in Farish Street in Wellington, one of my favourite shops. (Other favourites were the magazine shop next door for Electronics Australia and Practical Wireless, Lamphouse on Manners Street where I bought various components and a Fountain Electronic Kit, Wisemans, and Philips for OC71 transistors, ha ha).
However, to read the high resistor values I needed to use the highest resistance range. I discovered I must of removed the original BLR154 Alkaline 15v battery, at some time in the past, and I could not use that high range. (Second photo). Thinking I could just walk into a shop and buy a new one, oops, not so easy. The only one I could source in New Zealand was from Mr Positive NZ at $35.00 including shipping. And, from research online, appearing to be an obsolete type, I wondered how 'fresh' that battery might be?
Meanwhile, I resorted to my more modern digital meter which did the trick.
However, not to give up on the analogue meter for sentimental reasons, I thought about this. I wondered if I could make up my own using button cells. I discovered that if I used x10 1.5V LR54 (AG10, LR1130/1) cells, fitted into heatshrink, the physical dimensions would work out pretty close.
So, off to the local Mitre-10, ten button batteries and $19.95 later, I fitted them into 16mm heat-shrink I had on hand. Expiry date on these button cells were "08-2027", so I should get hopefully at least five years of life. I added a nut on the positive end to make up the length, and, evenly heating the tubing, it make a good fit around the batteries. (Third photo). Because I had plenty of spring tension in the 15v holder inside the multimeter, the individual cells pressed together nicely to make good electrical connection.
I can now use that high resistance range again! The old analogue multimeter lives on!
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